João (27) has a degree in Social Communications from PUCRS an is cofounder and VP of BOX 1824 (www.box1824.com), the renowned Brazilian consumption and behavior trends research company. BOX is active in emerging markets, such as BRIC and Latin America. João is also partner and cofounder of Brazilian creative hotshop LiveAD (www.livead.com.br). João also invests in web and technology companies, working on startup projects such as the news search engine www.Busk.com and the casual games studio aQuiris (www.aquiris.com.br).
Sao Paulo, Brasil
Emma Shevah is half-Irish and half-Thai and grew up in London. She has a BA in English and Philosophy and an MA with Distinction in Creative and Professional Writing. She is an author and speaker, teaches language and literature, and co-hosts the literary club at NYU London. Her debut novel, DREAM ON, AMBER, was published in March 2014 and she recently featured on 'Inheritance Books' on Radio 4 Extra. Emma is currently teaching and working on her next novel.
London, UK
Maria spent over 10 years in advertising and research agencies (including ACNielsen, Publicis, BBDO), where she worked mainly as Media Research Director. She completed a dissertation on visual semiotics in 2004 and after that started working as a freelance semiotician with several international companies. She enjoyed the methodology so much that in 2009 she decided to make it her main field of specialization and founded semiotic and cultural research agency LocalTalk. Maria holds Masters (Hons) degree in Sociology and PhD in Social Psychology from State University of Management, Moscow.
Moscow, Russia